Vicke Viking to be adapted into Live-Action Film

According to Germany's Der Spiegel Magazine & The Hollywood Reporter Swedish author Runer Jonsson's children's book Vicke Viking is to be adapted into a live-action film by German director Michael Herbig. The film begins shooting this summer, and is slated for a 2009 release. The story has been previously adapted by the Zuiyo Eizo animation studio into an animated film & children's series that originally ran in Japan (and later elsewhere including Germany) in the mid 1970's. The series is such a cult classic in Germany, that it has rarely not been on the air since it was originally shownn.

The book, earned author Runer Jonsson the prestigious Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Children’s Book Award) for it in 1965. The story follows Vicke, a young viking boy, on his adventures.